Fears that a burning building in Oxford Street could collapse has caused London's main shopping street to be closed in part.

More than 150 firefighters fought through the night to contain the blaze in offices above the New Look shop on the south side of Oxford Street, next to Marks and Spencers.

Staff and shoppers were evacuated during last night's late-shopping rush as police sealed off the quarter-mile section between Oxford Circus and Wells Street.

The fire broke out in offices on the first floor of the New Look building at around 7pm. London Fire Brigade believes no-one was inside at the time.

The flames damaged the top four floors of the five-storey building, leaving it unstable at the front.

Firefighters managed to keep the blaze from spreading to adjacent shops. About 50 crew are still on the scene, but have been forced to combat the fire from outside for fears that the building could collapse.

Scotland Yard said no-one were injured. The cause of the fire is not yet known and will be investigated.

A spokesman for Westminster City Council said the affected section of road is likely to remain closed for the rest of the day.

"Our district surveyor has been inspecting the building and deemed it unsafe," he said. "We hope that this section of road will be reopened by Saturday morning."

Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road Tube stations remain open.